The Spanish company Solarpack has signed this Friday a contract with the Government of Ecuador to build and concession the ‘El Aromo’ photovoltaic project. This plant will be the largest in the entire country and will have an installed capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation.
Thus, through this contract that grants the concession of the project for 20 years, the company based in the Biscayan town of Getxo increases its presence in South America where it already manages projects in Chile, Peru and Uruguay. The signing of the contract, which contemplates an investment of 150 million dollars, was attended by the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Fernando Santos Alvite, and the representative of Solarpack in Ecuador, Íñigo Urízar.
El Aromo will be built in the coastal province of Manabí, 20 kilometers from the city of Manta, on an area of 300 hectares, and will generate enough electricity to supply 60% of the population of Manta, which amounts to some 650,000 people. according to Lasso.
by 2025
The Ecuadorian president will ensure that El Aromo becomes a reality in 2025 and will contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in Ecuador, by avoiding the emission of 221,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year and the consumption of 26 million gallons of diesel (98.4 million liters).
Although 88% of the electrical energy produced in Ecuador comes from clean energy, mainly hydroelectric, Lasso recalled that the solar and wind power plants that currently operate in the country generate a combined 100 megawatts, so thanks to this project photovoltaic will triple that power.
“This is the first of several renewable and clean electric power projects. In the coming months we will sign more contracts with characteristics of international companies,” Lasso said. Likewise, the head of state also wanted to highlight that the project will generate 700 direct and indirect jobs during its construction, operation and maintenance.
Paving the way for decarbonization
For his part, Urízar assured that El Aromo is the first large-scale photovoltaic project in Ecuador, which he anticipated that it will mean “a great step towards a sustainable energy future and the decarbonization of the energy matrix” of the country that will join its neighbors as a photovoltaic benchmark in South America.
“Due to its kind geographical conditions, photovoltaic solar energy is extremely complementary to the installed hydroelectric power, and will displace an important thermal power that is highly polluting. renewable energies in Ecuador,” he added.
A “model contract”
In turn, Minister Santo Alvite stressed that the contract with Solarpack is “a model contract that has taken a while to negotiate.” In addition, he added that “As there is an international component, financed by international organizations, the United States Government sent two Treasury representatives to accompany us in the negotiation process.”
“This means that this contract is under the highest standards of transparency and respect for technical standards and social and environmental responsibility,” he concluded. In this way, the photovoltaic project was awarded in December 2020 to the Solarpackteam consortium promise, as a result of a public selection process that had seven prequalified companies, of which three offers were submitted. Last September, after almost two years, the phase of the transaction closing for the concession of the project to the Spanish company concluded.
